118 - REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2023

Jeremy is joined by Chris Arnsby for a comprehensive review of 2023 in film, covering the ten best and five worst films, and touching on such matters as difficult third acts, John Deacon, disappointing perfumes, the Nose Film and the menace of an empty space.

Below are playlists of trailers for all this year’s Best Film nominees, all the Best Film winners since 1963 and previews of some of 2024’s upcoming releases, as well as the mentioned visual effects reel for Godzilla Minus One and the Saturday Night Live sketch of Adam Driver as a baby on a plane, while here is the Twitter thread listing all this year’s nominees across all categories.

117 - HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN

Jeremy is joined by perennial guest Chris Arnsby for a belated Christmas episode, as they experience Jason Eisener's 2011 darkly comic exploitation homage Hobo with a Shotgun, starring Rutger Hauer, Molly Dunsworth and Brian Downey. Their conversation covers such topics as living in a real-life Mad Max world, clods of drugs, the original Mars Attacks trading cards and Jeremy's Canadian accent.

Below are the trailer, the original competition-winning trailer starring David Brunt, the piece of music from the end credits of The Hitcher, which is used in a crucial scene, and the end credits song - Lisa Lougheed’s Run with Us.

114 - AMSTERDAMNED

Jeremy is joined by Chris Arnsby for a discussion of 1988's Dutch action thriller Amsterdamned, written and directed by Dick Maas. Their conversation covers a range of topics including ITV's overnight schedule, a real-life kidnapping, The Quizmaster Murders, the Godzilla threshold and Keeping Up Appearances.

Below are the original trailer, the music video of the theme song and a clip of the infamous boat chase. I wanted to link to something from The Nightmare Man, but it’s been thoroughly scrubbed from the internet. Try looking “elsewhere”.

111 - REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2022

Jeremy and Chris Arnsby look back on the last year in movies, exploring the ten best and five worst pictures of 2022, with such topics being covered as toilet strategies, in-cinema naps, yacht rock, the end of Inspector Morse and why Avatar is successful.

Below are a playlist of trailers of this year’s top 10, arranged alphabetically, and here are some previews of releases coming up in 2023.

110 - ONE HOUR PHOTO

Jeremy is joined once again by Chris Arnsby to examine One Hour Photo, the 2002 psychological thriller written and directed by Mark Romanek, and starring Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan and Gary Cole, with their seminar covering such broad topics as the wonders of Ikea, plagiarism lawsuits, pornocrats and the Carnival of Souls.

Below are the original trailer, the original soundtrack and footage of the actors in rehearsal, as well as a breakdown of the terrible editing in Bohemian Rhapsody.

108 - CLOUD ATLAS

Jeremy is joined once again by Chris Arnsby to discuss Cloud Atlas, the 2012 adaptation of David Mitchell's novel, written and directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and Tom Tykwer and starring an all-star cast led by Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Ben Wishaw, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant. Their all-encompassing conversation covers topics from sense triggers, standing ovations and brawling writers to Leonard Nimoy, David Hasselhoff and failing the world's easiest job interview.

Below are the epic trailer discussed in the podcast, as well as an excerpt from Maidstone, the misremembered film in which Norman Mailer fights with Rip Torn rather than Gore Vidal, an interview featuring the actual Mailer/Vidal feud and the moment Michael Knight saved Europe.

104 - GIORGIO MORODER'S METROPOLIS

Jeremy is joined once again by Chris Arnsby to examine the 1984 alternate cut by Giorgio Moroder of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Their discussion covers such topics as post-WWI cinema, the ethics of edits, ivory backscratchers, early optical effects and statue therapy.

Below are a copy of the full-length restoration of the film discussed during the podcast, and a video version of Pat Benatar’s Here’s My Heart, about which Jeremy keeps eulogising.

103 - REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2021 PART 2

Jeremy is joined by Chris Arnsby for the second half of a retrospective of the best and worst films of the last year, with such subjects as ageism, writers' block, children as plot tokens, strip-mining the franchises you love and the joys and dangers of drinking.

Below is a playlist of coming attractions for 2022, as well as the nominees for the Best Film of the Year, while the full nominees in other categories can be found here.

102 - REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2021 PART 1

Jeremy is joined by Chris Arnsby for the first half of a retrospective of the best and worst films of the last year, with such subjects as thought bubbles, climate change, poisonous nostalgia and big lizard robots coming under scrutiny.

Below is a playlist of the nominees for the Best Film of the Year, while the full nominees in other categories can be found here.

100 - FAHRENHEIT 451

Chris Arnsby join Jeremy for the final instalment of the run of special episodes outside the regular remit, celebrating the podcast's centenary with an edition on his favourite film, Francois Truffaut's adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

Their lengthy discussion covers a range of topics, including Britain's most influential filmmaker, a world without written language, modernist composers, the abolition of empathy, Ready Player One, The Space Sentinels and the early days of Channel 5.

Apologies for the sound quality, this was due to a fault in the main recording, requiring the backup to be used.

In the absence of a decent trailer - the original one spends too long salivating over Julie Christie - below is a selection of scenes from the film, and a suite of Bernard Herrmann’s score.

098 - THREADS

Jeremy is joined by Chris Arnsby for another in the miniseries exploring films outside the podcast's usual purview. This time, they look at 1984 television drama Threads, notorious for its uncompromising depiction of nuclear war and its after-effects, and their discussion covers such hot-button topics as the final episode of Coronation Street, the hopelessness of civil defence, parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic and their own brushes with Armageddon.

Apologies for the sound quality, this was due to a fault in the main recording, requiring the backup to be used.

Below are a trailer for the recent remastered home video release, the documentary from which Threads derived and Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, which provided the opening music.

095 - REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2020

Jeremy is joined by both Anthony Malone and Chris Arnsby to examine the best and worst films of 2020. Studying the cinema of that remote space year leads them to sundry apocalypses, Sherlockiana, the origin of Mary Poppins, historical fidelity, the drug of creative control and the last (and first) word on Tenet.

Since this podcast was recorded Peter Jackson's The Beatles: Get Back project has changed from a feature film released in cinemas to a miniseries exclusive to Disney+. Check local listings for details.

Featured below is a playlist of the podcast's choices for best films of the year in decades past, as well as two pieces of music that come under discussion during the show.

090 - OH! WHAT A LOVELY WAR

Chris Arnsby joins Jeremy to examine the 1969 satirical musical Oh! What a Lovely War directed by Richard Attenborough from the Joan Greenwood stage production, with an ensemble cast featuring Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, John Mills, Dirk Bogarde, Susannah York, John Gielgud and Vanessa Redgrave. Their discussion covers such bouncy topics as the roots of alternative comedy, satire without jokes, the nature of history, mankind's natural aversion to conflict and the establishment eating itself. Roll up, roll up!

In lieu of a trailer, below is the film’s title sequence, which gives a flavour of the film.

087 - JAWS: THE REVENGE

Jeremy once again enjoys the company of Chris Arnsby for A Very Cinema Limbo Christmas. Together, they explore the 1987 suspense sequel Jaws: The Revenge, directed by Joseph Sargent and starring Lorraine Gary, Lance Guest, Mario van Peebles and Michael Caine, and discover voodoo curses, amateur icthyology, Sharkula, Jeremy's favourite Bible joke and what the film would be like without a shark in it.

Featured below is the original - very minimalist - trailer, a modern fan-produced version, and the original test ending.